Finding Neverland walks the tightrope line of sentimentality without ever falling into the net of sappiness, although it does wobble at times. It tells the sweet and innocent story of the inspiration behind the creation of Peter Pan. It shows the power of imagination and, quite refreshingly, it demonstrates the importance of a strong male role model in a child's life.

Johnny Depp portrays J.M. Barrie, the playwright who brought Peter Pan to the stage. His passionless marriage to his social climbing wife drives him from his home in London each day to write in a nearby park. It is there that he makes the acquaintance of a widow (Kate Winslet) and her four sons. He develops a bond with the boys, joining them in their games and inspiring the middle boy, Peter, to try his hand at writing.

While his relationship with the widowed family is innocent enough, rumors soon begin whirling around London society about all of the attention he is paying them and his already weak marriage begins to disintegrate. By this time however, Barrie has become inspired by the family to write Peter Pan and is soon too lost in the production of the play to spend time salvaging his marriage.

Depp turns in a deft performance in the lead role. His accent is impeccable. His performance is subdued, particularly in comparison with his over the top role in last year's Pirates of the Caribbean. Winslet and the boys are also good (as is Dustin Hoffman in a minor role), but this is clearly Depp's movie.

Visually the movie is almost Gilliam-esque at times, as Barrie's imaginings come to life. Particularly nice are the shots of Neverland.

The story is fast paced and the movie clocks in at a brisk 90 minutes or so. There are times when I wished the movie revealed more of Barrie's back-story. He is obviously good with children, and yet it is never revealed why he had none of his own. Is it the result of his not so happy marriage, or were he and his wife incapable of having children of their own? The movie never reveals.

The movie begins with the caption that this story is inspired by true events. Not being a student of J.M. Barrie, I've no way of knowing how close to the truth this movie is, but certainly the film makers have captured the way we'd like to imagine a story like Peter Pan was created. And like Peter Pan, this story is about growing up, imagination, and how to get one without losing the other.

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Finding Neverland is about an adult male who plays imaginative games with some young boys. I have done this with my children more times than I can count. I have often been Joker to their Batman. I have been Blofeld to their James Bond. We have reenacted many scenarios from films and books as well as made up hundreds of our own. To give you any further detail into our play time would probably bore you, just as watching Finding Neverland did for me.

A man, who is not intimate with his wife, who spends lots of time playing with another woman's children certainly raises eyebrows. However, the movie quickly dismisses any wrong doing. It's like watching the Michael Jackson trial. Even if there is no proof of wrong doing, the insinuations alone are almost enough to be damning. The movie never explores that soap opera angle. It merely comments on it.

I, like Scott, would have enjoyed some greater characterization and background. What is left is a boring film. Yes, I was bored and nodded off twice. This film is more about how he created Peter Pan than who he actually was. He sees the cruel grandmother holding what appears to be a hook in her hand and so the movies insinuates that this is where he got the idea for Captain Hook. In another scene he sees the boys in their pajamas bouncing on their beds and he imagines them flying as in the story of Peter Pan. Yawn!

As a father of two boys who has explored imaginative worlds thousands of times with them, I found absolutely nothing new or of interest in this film. I wished I was playing with them the entire time I watched this movie. I could not wait till Finding Neverland was over.

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